Cytozin didn't mind leading the way through the snow, but it was starting to get deeper. That meant that he had to put a fair bit more effort into packing the snow down, and he was starting to feel somewhat tired. The Toxtricity slowed down considerably as he scanned the area, looking for an ideal resting place where he could take a nap. Up ahead he could see a jumble of snow-covered boulders, but they weren't tall enough for him to lean against comfortably and some of them were spaced too far apart. He gave a disappointed sigh and kept trudging his way through the snow, only to pause when something curious caught his eye. There appeared to be some kind of weird icicle formation rising out of the snow, and the area surrounding it was so packed down with tracks that he couldn't tell what they were from. He held up his arm again to stop his trainer and his fellow pokemon from following. He meandered his way over to one of the icicles and tentatively leaned his back against it, only to jump away from it in surprise when the icicle moved and a deep rumble resonated from the snow-covered mound it was attached to.

Marsha became a bit worried when Cytozin slowed down, though it didn't take her long to figure out what he was up to. She had gotten to know his habits pretty well, and the fact that he had been looking around so intently had been pretty telling. He usually got like that when he was looking for a place to take a nap. While she didn't mind if he needed a short break, this was not the kind of place she wanted to stay for too long, since it could be dangerous. "If you're doing what I think you're doing, we can stop for a quick five-minute break if you want, or I can ask Raffle to take over for a while," Marsha offered, and she managed to get her words out just before seeing Cytozin jump back from an icicle he had tried leaning against. He wasn't the type to move quickly unless he had to, but she didn't have to wait long to find out why. Cytozin wasn't the only pokemon that liked to nap, and the one that reared up out of the snow had apparently been there long enough to get covered in it. Marsha's eyes widened as the Chestnaught revealed itself to them, and boy did it look angry at being disturbed from its nap.

Raffle had just about caught up with Marsha, which wasn't hard to do since she had come to a full stop and was staring at something. The Ivysaur cued in on the look of fear on her face and put on a small burst of speed in order to reach her side. Something was up, but he didn't know what yet. However, once he got there, he came to a quick halt and joined Marsha in staring. The pokemon in front of them was heavily built, intimidating-looking with its jutting spikes, and roughly as tall as Cytozin. Raffle knew what he needed to do and he wrapped one of his vines around his trainer's waist. There wasn't time to try to get across to her that she needed to get out of the way. She was too heavy for him to physically haul away, but he pulled on the vine nonetheless and tried to tug her along in the direction he wanted to go. Cytozin might be able to take a hit from the wild pokemon, but his delicate human trainer could not.

Minerva did not want to be there, even though her fur naturally kept most of the winter cold out. It was losing her freedom that had made her so unhappy, and she was still coming to terms with her current situation. Having a trainer had its perks, such as the fact that she rarely went hungry. However, the tradeoff of having to put up Cytozin, Raffle, and Marsha had been very difficult for her. She had been trailing behind on purpose, so she could keep some distance from them. However, the sound of a commotion up ahead caught her attention and curiosity got the better of her. She didn't bother with the trail of tracks they had made through the snow, because she was light enough on her feet that she wouldn't sink too deeply. As soon as she got close there was a palpable tension in the air, along with feelings of fear. She saw that Raffle was trying to drag their trainer off the trail, and concluded it had been a good choice to stay off of it. Her psychic senses also picked up on the emotions of annoyance and anger, and so she scurried back the way she had come by several feet.

All Cytozin had wanted was a nap, but now he had to deal with having awakened a wild pokemon. This wasn't the first Chestnaught he had ever seen, but he had never battled one directly. The Chestnaught he had met before had belonged to another trainer, and he had only seen it briefly. One look at the Chestnaught's face told him everything he needed to know. The way that it kept trying to lock eyes with him was telling; the big brute wanted to fight him. He had faced fighting types in gym matches before and many of them had the same attitude. For them, battling was a matter of pride. Cytozin refused to meet the Chestnaught's gaze, though he had little hope that the brute would back down but it was still worth a shot. He decided to do something rather foolish and risky, but he didn't really feel like fighting if he could find some place to nap in peace instead. He turned his back to the Chestnaught and started to walk away back down the trail, making it clear that he intended to leave. To his satisfaction, he saw that Raffle was taking care of their trainer so that he didn't have to worry about her. Maybe there was a chance the Chestnaught would let them go...or not. The Chestnaught's angry call split the air, and the sound of loudly crunching snow came from behind him. Cytozin tried to sidestep but he had been too close to begin with. Due to the incredible stength of the Chestnaught, Cytozin briefly learned what it was like to be a flying pokemon....as in he went sailing through the air.

Marsha found herself being nearly forcibly pulled off the trail by a very determined Ivysaur. She had seen with her own eyes the Chestnaught stand up and shake off the snow, so she didn't need any further explanation. She allowed the Ivysaur to pull her off the trail, though neither of them moved very fast due to the deep snow. Marsha realized she had overestimated Cytozin's ability to deal with the wild pokemon directly, because she saw a flash of his yellow-and-purple body sailing overhead before he crash-landed in a snowbank far ahead of herself and Raffle. She tried to run towards the falling Toxtricity but there was no way to reach him in time. She saw him crash into some deep snow up ahead, displacing enough snow with the impact to completely obscure anything ahead of her. She stopped for a moment to unwrap the Ivysaur's vine, "I appreciate it Raffle, but I need to help Cytozin," Marsha explained. She didn't give Raffle a chance to respond, and forged ahead through the snow towards the general area where she had seen Cytozin fall.

If Cytozin had been anything other than a pokemon, the Chestnaught's attack would have completely demolished him. Even so, he'd gotten the wind knocked out of him and it hurt to move any of his limbs. Every muscle in his body protested when he tried to move, but the fact that his trainer and his fellow pokemon were in danger was enough motivation to get keep him moving. The snow had cushioned some of the impact as well, which helped, but being hit by a Take Down from a powerful Chestnaught was not something to take lightly. He heard the crunching of snow nearby and tensed at first, but it wasn't loud enough to be coming from the Chestnaught.

A familiar face came into view and then his trainer offered him a hand up. He was not happy to see her, not because he didn't want the help, but because she was putting herself in danger by being there. Still, he did accept the help and climbed unsteadily to his feet. Not long after, he heard the snow being trampled down by much larger feet, as the Chestnaught charged down at them all; no doubt with the intention to attack as soon as he got close. Cytozin shoved his trainer roughly behind him, because there wasn't time to try and communicate. He held out his left arm and it was surrounded by a bright purple glow, and he let the poison flow freely until his entire arm was engulfed by it. He then dashed forward to meet the Chestnaught mid-charge, and used his Poison Jab attack to try and drive the Chestnaught back and away from his trainer. Luck was not on Cytozin's side, because the Chestnaught protected himself by projecting a wall of green energy in front of him. Cytozin dug his feet into the snow in an attempt to stop, but ended up skidding right into the Chestnaught's Spiky Shield fist-first.

Raffle could not stand idly by and let his trainer get pummeled to death by an angry wild pokemon. She might not want his help, but she wouldn't last long if she got on the receiving end of one of the Chestnaught's attacks. The Ivysaur marched determinedly back over to where Marsha had fallen in the snow. Cytozin's shove hadn't been gentle and had knocked her off balance, and she was still in the process of trying to get up when Raffle reached her. The Ivysaur reached out with one of his vines and wrapped it around her right ankle. It probably would have been a rather comical sight if anyone had come across them just then. Raffle was able to pull his trainer through the snow using friction, since she wasn't on her feet. The snow flung up by his feet kept getting in his trainer's face, and it made if difficult for Marsha to yell any kind of protest. He understood why she wanted to help, but her getting in the way during the ongoing battle wouldn't help anyone.

Cytozin stumbled back in the snow and nearly fell over. He ended up taking a half-slumped stance and breathing in deeply, trying to get his breath back. Not only had the Chestnaught's shield successful thwarted his attack, but Cytozin had also taken some damage from the spikes as well. He was not doing so well against the Chestnaught, who was proving to be much stronger than he originally guessed. The Toxtricity spared a glance towards his trainer, in the hope that she might have a useful strategy in mind. Unfortunately, it looked like she was still being hauled to safe distance by Raffle. He was relieved but also a little disappointed in his trainer; she had been putting herself in danger for no reason. There wasn't time for Marsha to get herself together, because the Chestnaught was not going to wait. The green glowing shield had faded from view, and Cytozin knew it would be charging for him any moment. He straightened himself up slightly, then held his hands a few feet apart. A small spark of blue energy appeared, flickering brightly as it expanded to the size of a voltorb. He aimed it towards the Chestnaught and then released it, and watched as his Shockwave skimmed over the snow and directly towards its intended target.

Marsha was about to protest and tell Raffle to let her go, but he abruptly stopped and unwound his vine from her ankle. She was covered from head to toe in snow and a little bruised, but relatively unharmed otherwise. After wiping some snow from her face, she took stock of her surroundings with all the pitted holes in the snow, and realized that Raffle had indeed helped her by hauling her away from the two battling pokemon. She hadn't really had much choice but to let Cytozin handle things himself until that point, but now that she was out of there, maybe there was something she could do to help him. She climbed to her feet, brushed off more snow, and then gave Raffle a rewarding pat on the head, "Thank you Raffle, you really helped me out there. I got carried away with trying to help Cytozin,"" she admitted. Speaking of Cytozin, she looked over to see how he was doing. To her eyes, it appeared as though the Toxtricity was definitely feeling the damage from the earlier attacks, but he wasn't showing any signs of backing down. She had looked in time to see Cytozin launch one of his electric attacks, but something about it bothered her. She just couldn't figure out what it was just then.

Cytozin realized what his error had been, when he saw his electric attack hit the Chestnaught square in the chest. The Chestnaught cried out in pain briefly, and the impact caused the muscular pokemon to stumble back a few paces in the snow. Suddenly, the Chestnaught thrust his chest forward and the attack fizzled out, followed by the light of the attack turning faint and then going out entirely. The Shockwave had done some damage as evidenced by a few patches of blackened fur, but it had only succeeded in making the Chestnaught even angrier than before. The Spiny Armor pokemon narrows his eyes, and then jogged his way through the snow to close the distance between them. Cytozin's legs were still too shaky from the earlier attack to carry him far, and he knew running away would be pointless. All he could do was brace himself as the Chestnaught got closer, and the snow didn't seem to slow down the wild pokemon at all. The glowing green form seemed like a wall of energy rushing right at him, and Toxtricity knew a true moment of fear when he realized the Chestnaught's chosen attack was Giga Impact.

Marsha couldn't see any sign of Cytozin in the deep snowbank at the end of the obscenely long furrow left in the snow when Cytozin had gotten hit by the Chestnaught's powerful attack. Foolish or not, she and Raffle had both gone to retrieve Cytozin. She doubted he would be in any shape to battle after being hit by an attack like that, but she couldn't recall him while the pokeball didn't have a clean line of sight on him. "Raffle hurry, I don't know why the Chestnaught isn't following, but we don't have much time," she told him, with a wary glance back over her shoulder. The last she had seen of the Chestnaught, it had been standing in one spot and raggedly panting, probably from the exertion of the attack. She looked down and saw her Ivysaur send his vines seeking beneath the snow, before stubbornly pulling on something. The snow was loose and gave way quickly, but it still took Raffle a full two minutes to haul Cytozin out. The Toxtricity didn't respond and just remained sprawled in the snow like a ragdoll, and his eyes were shut. Whether he had shut them to keep out the snow or had fallen unconscious, Marsha didn't know. Regardless, he was clearly in no condition to fight anymore. "I'm sorry Cytozin, this is my fault. You protected us and I can't thank you enough. Rest now, and I'll get you to a pokemon center later," Marsha promised and promptly recalled the badly injured Toxtricity to his pokeball.

The sound of snow crunching alerted Marsha to the fact that the Chestnaught had tracked them down, though it had taken a few minutes. Marsha looked down at Raffle with a worried expression. Cytozin was her most experienced pokemon, and this Chestnaught had completely overpowered the Toxtricity. She had left Sollum behind because Minerva didn't get along with him, and she didn't know where the Meowstic had run off to currently. That meant that the only pokemon she had available to her was Raffle. He could hold his own in a fair fight, but pitting him against an opponent this strong seemed unfair. Then again, she didn't really think they had much of a choice. "Alright Raffle, Cytozin did what he could to protect us. Now it's time for you to take over and fight in his stead," she told Raffle, and felt a little better when the Ivysaur stepped in front of her to face the Chestnaught. This time, she was smart enough to move out of the way. The Chestnaught seemed to be moving slowly and was panting, which gave them a good opening for an attack. "Let's meet force with force. Use Take Down!"

Raffle looked up at the Chestnaught, and he really had to look up quite a ways. Anger was stamped on the Chestnaught's face, but it also looked a little tired around the eyes. He noticed the blackened patch on the Chestnaught's chest from Cytozin's earlier attack. Raffle gathered his legs beneath him and crouched, before launching himself at the Chestnaught, aiming square for the chest with a powerful Take Down. The Chestnaught didn't even try to dodge and Raffle bounced off of the Chestnaught's chest, only to land in a crumpled heap in the snow. He was fresh to the battle though, and even though his own attack had injured him, the Ivysaur was quickly back on his feet. Then, he saw the Chestnaught's smug smirk and scrabbled at the snow with his feet, trying desperately to get out of the way. The Chestnaught saw fit to use the attack back against him, and the force of the Take Down was far more powerful than the one the Ivysaur had used moments before.

Minerva didn't feel as though she owed anything to Marsha or the other pokemon, but she did feel a bit guilty for not helping them. She hadn't gone far enough to not to pick up on the feelings of her fellow pokemon with her psychic abilities. She felt the Ivysaur's fear and pain for a split second, but it was swiftly followed by the notable absence of Raffle's mental presence. She reluctantly headed over to where all the noise and commotion was coming from. The sight she came upon was one of her distraught trainer recalling the injured Ivysaur to his pokeball. As much as she didn't like the situation she was in, seeing a helpless human pummeled into oblivion by an angry wild pokemon was not something she wanted to be privvy to. She scurried over the snow the Marsha and tugged on her pantleg before pointing at the Chestnaught, which was her way of indicating that she was willing to fight.

Marsha couldn't believe everything that had happened. First, Cytozin had been taken down with relative ease, and even Raffle hadn't stood a chance against the Chestnaught. Either it was very experienced, or she was just doing badly as a trainer. Marsha was inclined to believe it was a combination of both. She looked over at the Chestnaught and considered begging in order to convince the wild pokemon to let her leave. Before she could make up her mind, a small furry blur appeared next to her, and she was surprised to see that it was none other than Minerva. Her eyes widened a bit when she saw the Meowstic point at the Chestnaught. "Stay back, it's very dangerous," Marsha explained, only to see the Meowstic do the opposite and take a few steps towards the Chestnaught with her fur standing on end. The Chestnaught hadn't attacked again, but seemed to be waiting for something, probably his next opponent. Marsha finally caught on to what Minerva wanted, though she could hardly believe it. "You really want to fight the Chestnaught? Well you're all I have left so if that's the case...try...." Marsha trailed off, trying to remember the Meowstic's attacks. "Try Psychic!"

The Chestnaught had taken the worst of his anger out on the Toxtricity and Ivysaur. By the time he had reached the helpless human, he had calmed down a little. This human wasn't the first trainer her had faced in combat, and he suspected she had more pokemon with her. Perhaps the human had a more worthy opponent to face him. He crossed his arms in front of him and waited, but the only pokemon in sight was a small Meowstic that had scurried into view. Even when the small pokemon approached him, he didn't take it seriously. Surely the trainer wouldn't be so foolish as to send such a small weak creature to its doom. The Chestnaught's overconfidence cost him, for he was caught off guard when a wave of pink energy engulfed him. The attack seared everywhere it touched him; it wasn't a fire attack but the energy was painful to him nonetheless. He withstood the attack, though he had stumbled back a few feet in the snow from the force of it. The energy dissipated and he was able to see the Meowstic wasn't far away. He was both insulted and embarrassed that such a small pokemon had been able to harm him, and his anger was renewed. The Chestnaught closed his right hand and then concentrated, before opening it again. Resting in his palm were a handful of glowing seeds, which he intended to throw right at the Meowstic.

With her only battle-ready pokemon left being a rather frail-looking Meowstic, Marsha had good reason to be worried. Just comparing the two in size visually, it looked like an impossible challenge. However, the Meowstic already seemed to be doing better against the Chestnaught than Cytozin and Raffle had. She didn't know if Minerva would be able to withstand one of the Chestnaught's physical attacks. Probably not, considering the fact that Raffle had been hurt so badly by one hit. The best thing she could do for Minerva was try her best to ensure that the Chestnaught didn't get a chance to do so. She gave Minerva a rather pointed look, "Hurry and use Sucker Punch now! Thankfully it didn't look like the Chestnaught was trying to charge Minerva down, but there was something glowing in its right hand.

The Chestnaught was just about to throw the seeds at the small target, but the furry pokemon moved so fast she appeared to disappear. The Meowstic suddenly reappeared in front of his face and interrupted his attack. The Sucker Punch was just powerful enough to cause him to stumble back a single step. However, the damage was minimal due to his resistance to dark-type attacks. Even better, the Meowstic had put herself in direct range of his attack. He didn't so much throw the seeds at her, but shove them into her face with his hand. The Seed Bomb went off on contact, producing a yellow flash that was almost painfully bright. He squinted his eyes against the glare, expecting to see a smoking hole in the snow. He was disappointed to see the fluff ball climb to her feet, looking very battered but still able to move. The Chestnaught knew he had underestimated the Meowstic, perhaps it was a worthy opponent after all. However, he was tired and done with dealing with this pesky trainer and her pokemon. He intended to pulverize the Meowstic with one final move and be done with it.

"Use Psychic again, since that worked well the first time," Marsha ordered, with her voice carrying loudly over the pitted snow. Minerva went along with what her trainer wanted, mostly because she figured the human had the right of it. Her last psychic attack had definitely had an impact on the angry Chestnaught, far more than her pitiful Sucker Punch. The Meowstic had needed to get close in order to pull off the attack, but getting too close was what had cost her. She felt rather unsteady on her feet, but she was still ready and willing to put up a fight. Once again she faced the Chestnaught, and this time it seemed as if she had his undivided attention. The Meowstic didn't waste time in gathering her psychic energy, and formed it into bright sphere that she launched his way. The Chestnaught held out his arms in front of him and lunged forward, and it looked as if he was going to charge her down. The psychic attack caught the wild pokemon in the mid-section, just below the chest. When the snow settled, Minerva could see that Chestnaught was on his butt in the snow and seemed to be having a hard time climbing back to his feet. A wave of hatred and anger rose from him when she picked up on his emotions, and then he was pelting through the snow towards her at his top speed. The uneven tracks and holes in the snow from all the fighting made it difficult to navigate as she tried to scramble out of the way.

"Thank you Minerva, you may have just saved us all. Now, let me see what I can do," Marsha called out, with her eyes focused on the spikes of the Chestnaught's back. She was using them as a focus to line up a shot. She didn't know if her pokemon had managed to weaken him enough, but they were in serious trouble if it wasn't. She had to give it a try, especially since each one of her pokemon had contributed in the effort to fight the wild pokemon. She tossed the pokeball in an arc and hoped for the best, while she watched the pokeball fall as sharply as a keen-eyed Talonflame.